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Episode 1814 - What's Your Motto?
The fourteenth episode of Season 18 of Hell's Kitchen aired on Fox, on February 1, 2019. On that episode, the final four worked on their tableside skills, took turns running the pass, one chef made a startling announcement to the chefs and Ramsay, and the final two were revealed. Intro While going back to the dorms, Mia accused Bret of looking only for himself and saying anything to keep himself in the competition, before calling herself going home that night bullshit. Then, Mia told Bret not to form an opinion of herself just based on second hand conversations as it was their first service together, and complained that she had a lot on her station that night, but Bret still considered her the weakest chef of the final four, and said that she was better off going back to her private chef life. Individual challenge Later that night, at 11:48 PM, Ramsay called the dorms, and asked Mia to bring everybody downstairs, with Bret wondering if Ramsay was a robot due to not going home for some sleep. Once downstairs, Ramsay said that to celebrate their milestone, he wanted to give them a midnight snack in the form of pancakes cooked by Dan Drake of Dancakes, even showing that the latter had created drawings of them on their pancakes. This got the final four amused with Motto saying that he looked better as a pancake, while Mia wanted her pancake to become her new Instagram profile picture. After, Ramsay explained that because one of them were going to become the face of the Hell’s Kitchen restaurant in Las Vegas, he wanted to see their showmanship, and introduced the Tableside Challenge. Early the next day, he would invite some guest judges that would eat and judge their dishes, and the person with the most votes was the winner. After, Ramsay told them to bring their pancakes back with them to the dorms, even providing them with some syrup. The next day, the final four were up early prepping their dishes for the challenge, and after, Ramsay brought the guest chefs into the dining room which included Ted Hopson, Geoff Baumberger, Michael Fiorelli, and Joel Miller. On the first round, the chefs had 15 minutes to cook and plate their dish for their first table which included Ariel’s ambongida duck dumpling, Mia’s cilantro, lime, and tequila shrimp scampi, Bret’s shrimp scampi with cavatelli, and Motto’s New Orleans barbecued shrimp. While cooking his dish, Motto said that once cooked in a cook off years ago, but accidentally dropped his entire table, causing his table to grow nervous as Hopson told Motto not to burn him. Ariel admitted to Fiorelli that while she made the dish before, it was never at a tableside station before, while remarking that she was the only chef that did not use shrimp as she refused to play it safe. Meanwhile, Miller asked Mia where her shrimp came from, but she struggled to say where they were from, and deemed it embarrassing. Eventually, the final four got their dishes cooked and served on time. On round 2, Fiorelli noticed that Bret had a Hell’s Kitchen tattoo on his arm, and the latter listed off all the tattoos all over his body, before commenting that he had a shot to win this challenge. At Baumberger’s table, Ariel was asked if she competed before, and she admitted that she did in Season 6 where she placed third, before hoping to make it at least one ranking above. With 90 seconds left, everybody but Motto served their dishes, with the latter rushing to get his table served, but eventually, he got it completed on time. On the third round, Mia revealed to Fiorelli that she used tequila in her shrimp scampi instead of wine, but when he asked her if she had some tequila before cooking, she revealed that she did not as she wanted to be professional. Eventually, everybody got their dishes cooked and plated on time. On the fourth and final round, Ariel got Miller excited about her dish, and she was excited that her table knew the dish very well. Everybody got their last dishes cooked and plated, with Mia knowing that she would not change anything as her game plan worked, while Motto knew he grew stronger with every round, and Ariel was a little worried as it was the first dish she was not sure about. After tallying the votes, Ramsay announced that Ariel won the challenge for having the most votes. Reward Ariel was rewarded with a day at the Malibu which included a horseback ride, and a personal massage. After, Ramsay allowed Ariel to take one extra person with her, and she picked Bret as neither of the men have been out of the restaurant for a long time, and Mia to take one for the team as the latter had only done one punishment so far. While going back to the dorms, Bret thanked Ariel, and said that he needed a massage badly. During the reward, Bret was a little nervous being on a horse, as Ariel found the former’s reactions priceless. During the massage, Ariel was in Zen mode while at the beach, but got slightly annoyed when Bret wanted to turn his massage into a sexy moment. Punishment Motto and Mia were punished by going on bar duty, which included washing, pealing, and zesting multiple fruits for sangrias in that night’s service. While Motto admitted that he was getting used to the punishments now, Mia admitted that she was glad to spend it with the former than with Bret. During the punishment, Mia complained how tedious the prepping was as there were a lot of fruit to prep, as Motto almost had a tray of lime collapse on him. Later, Sous Chef Jocky teasingly welcomed Mia to a punishment, before reminding Motto how he went through several punishments as well. That caused Motto to recall how the animal farm reward was the last one he did, before tallying up nine different punishments he had to do and calling the fortune cookie punishment the worst of them all. Dinner service Later that night, service began as Amber Rose, Neen Williams, Curt Menefee were in attendance that night. For that night, the final four would each be taking a turn running the pass to test not only their leadership skills, but also their quality control. Bret was the first person to run the pass, and after he called out his first ticket, he boasted that it was his kitchen now, and that he would not let anything trip him up. His first quality test came as Sous Chef Christina sent him a carbonara with spaghetti instead of tagliatelle, but he managed to catch it immediately, and knew that how much running the pass was important to Ramsay. Then, Sous Chef Christina sent up Bret’s risotto that contained orzo instead of rice, but he did not taste it before plating it, irritating Ramsay, and Mia said that Bret should have known better as it was the latter’s challenge winning dish earlier that season. Despite that, Ramsay deemed Bret’s performance not bad, and told him to keep his head up. Ariel was the second person to run the pass, and she knew there was zero room for error as she rejected Sous Chef Jocky’s tartare as he used tuna instead of beef, before admitting that she forgot about the sabotages from last time. Then, Ariel rejected Bret’s carbonara for looking like scrambled eggs, but failed to realize that Ramsay replaced the onion puree with a fennel one. Despite that, appetizers were continuing to be sent out. Mia was the third person to run the pass, and after calling out her order, she said that she could run a kitchen, and just needed Ramsay to see that. Then, Mia saw that Sous Chef Christina gave her a monkfish Wellington instead of a lobster Wellington, and wanted another test. However, Mia failed to realize that she was given a ribeye instead of the New York striploin until after she sliced it, and argued that while she knew her meat cuts, she was in a lot of pressure. Then, Bret sent up an overly garlicy risotto, and when Ramsay demanded who made it, the former said that Motto started on it and he himself finished it. After Ramsay yelled that it was not their best, Bret got his refire accepted, but his carbonara was rejected for looking broken as Mia said that she was rising to become the next Executive Chef. After being sent back to the meat station, Mia called her experience stressful, and was mad that she missed the ribeye mistake from earlier, especially as she was cooking New York striploin all night. Motto was the final person to run the pass, Ramsay reminded him to not let the kitchen run him, and he was ready to step it up. Marino gave Motto an incorrect ticket that had salmon tartare on it, but the latter was able to catch it mid read. For his next test, Ramsay swapped out the pork chop with a veal chop, but after Motto sliced it, he felt that the protein was not cooked properly until Ramsay told him what really happened. That led Motto to admit how difficult it was to run the pass, and understood how Ramsay could juggle all of that, but admitted that the latter has taught him a lot in the competition. After, Motto told Sous Chef Christina to heat up a scallop for a little longer, and service eventually ended. Post-mortem After gathering the final four up, Ramsay said that they all felt the pressure of running the kitchen, and while they each had some highs, they also had some lows. Then, Ramsay asked them to name one person they all felt did not deserve to be in the finale. During deliberation, Mia felt that picking only one person was difficult as it was becoming very cutthroat, but knew that she came to win the Executive Chef prize, and nominated Bret for staying in his comfort zone. However, Bret said that he could outcook the shit out of Mia, and accused meat of lagging that night, but Mia said that all of her meat was perfect, before reminding him how he had appetizers being sent back. Ariel and Motto had no idea who to nominate, and the latter said that with only four people left, it was difficult to decide on who to nominate. After much thought, Motto revealed that while he was not the weakest chef in the competition, that he proved himself a lot, and took a lot of the punishments, he revealed that he was going to nominate himself for elimination. That shocked everybody, with Bret calling it a curveball, and after Ariel asked Motto if he was sure about that, the latter believed that one of the three should take the position at Las Vegas, explaining that he did not want to leave his friends and family back home, and that he was needed back at Baton Rouge to start a family, raise the culinary standard of his city, before admitting that it has always been in the back of his head throughout the competition. Then, Motto added on that he has always been the backbone of his restaurant, and he wanted to continue mentoring his chefs with everything he learned during the competition, with a very touched and tearful Ariel respecting his choice as she called it an amazing thing to witness before hugging him. Motto's Exit When the final four came downstairs for elimination, Ramsay asked the chefs if they made a decision, with Motto saying that they did, before announcing that he was putting himself for elimination. That shocked Ramsay, and after asking Motto why he would do that, the latter explained that while it has been an incredible journey, he did not want to give up on Baton Rouge just yet, and hoped to use what he learned to elevate the culinary industry. While still surprised about Motto’s decision, Ramsay respected his decision to leave, but before leaving, he praised the former for being the most sincere contestant in the show's history, even offering him a job opportunity should he feel he completed his goal at Baton Rouge. Motto took the offer, was allowed to keep his jacket, and during his exit interview, he received a retrospective montage. Elimination After Motto left, Ramsay told the final three that despite the former deciding to leave, he was still going to send somebody home and have two chefs compete in the finals, before asking them why they deserved to be in the finals. Ariel said that she had grown since Season 6 and that she was more sure about going to the next level compared to the start of the competition, Bret said that he was a focused and determined individual and felt he was ready for Vegas, and Mia said that she was the most creative chef of the competition, and despite her mistakes, she learned from them. After, Ramsay named Ariel as the first finalist, and praised her for being the most consistent chef in the competition, along with the changes he saw from her since Season 6. Then, while Ramsay reminded Bret how he came into the competition strong with his risotto dish, he also reminded Mia about her perfect 5 during the Signature Dish Challenge, along with her strong consistency during the challenges. Just before Ramsay could announce who the second finalist was, the episode ended as a cliffhanger. Ramsay gave no comment on Motto's departure, and he did not receive the portrait burning sequence. Category:Episodes Category:Rookies Vs Veterans